The Tale Not Worth Hearing
by Ame no Neko
Summary: [AU BKK] “I have discovered what happened and where they are now. Yes, I can see the questions in your eyes. Please, do not ask them, Master; I know what they are. Please do not interrupt until I have finished. This is a tale I will not enjoy telling."
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic WILL be on the backburner. I have a fictionpress account that will take top priority; this fanfic is mostly for my amusement. I will not beg for reviews as nearly every other author seems to enjoy doing, nor will I update faster if you review a lot. I will update when I am not crammed with homework or working on my fictionpress stuff, or when I just plain feel like it.

Also, I apologize for any facts that are wrong. I haven't seen much of the anime yet (note that this will be, while in the same time period, an AU).

With that, I hope you enjoy. (Yes, the chapters will get longer...hopefully.)

**The Tale Not Worth Hearing:**

Chapter 1

"_I have discovered what happened and where they are now. Yes, I can see the questions in your eyes. Please, do not ask them, Master; I know what they are._

_"And please, sit down. It will be a long story that you may not enjoy hearing, Master. If you will wait a moment, I will begin. Please do not interrupt until I have finished, Master. This is a tale I will not enjoy telling. But Master, the visions will not stop now that I have called on them..."_

My eyes glowed with jealousy.

The town sat quietly, peacefully. There was no noise as it slept soundly in the night, unaware of what was to come.

And still, even knowing its final judgment, I was envious.

As if ghastly fingers, the wind blew around me, combing through my dark hair, the strands of blood that were perched in a high ponytail, willing it to be set free. My nightly gi ruffled around me in protest to the disturbance.

When had I had such peace?

But even then I had known it was not the peace I had been envious of; it was the innocence.

I had never had innocence. When I was a mere child my parents had died of a disease, had been stolen away by the devil that was Cholera and I had been left with nothing.

From that point onward I was set on a path of blood and death that had followed me, not a path I had followed. First it was with the slave traders, and I had been directed towards a grisly future that I did not want.

_"You must live, Shinta..." _the other slave had told me.

Live? A hollow, nearly silent, demonic laugh escaped my throat. Yes, live. I was living, wasn't I?

How come it felt like I wasn't?

Many who tried to come close to me were left feeling with a foreboding sense of all the lives I had stolen away, which seemed to follow me as if angry spirits. My eyes had even begun reflecting them; they were a hard, cold amber that allowed no mercy.

...What color had they been when I was a child?

I turned my head as I felt a presence approaching, looking at a comrade of mine. I smirked slightly as I saw a tremor of fear go through him at my gaze.

He stammered his message through his pale lips and bowed swiftly, awaiting my response.

I mulled his message over in my head.

"So, we are to attack tonight, then? Interesting." My eyes glinted in thought. What reason would we have to attack an entire day before our scheduled ambush was? Very peculiar.

He was still bent over, waiting for me to continue.

"Go back and tell your superior that I will not attack as we originally planned. It is too short of notice." I watched him pale, amused, and continued. "We will have to throw away the idea of an ambush; instead we must attack with a full assault with all of our troops. An organized ambush could not be planned in this limited time." Especially with their powers, I added mentally.

An almost inaudible gasp left him and I almost felt pity for him. Almost.

For a messenger to bear such a dramatic change in plans could prove to be dangerous.

And I stood, watching the town for hours on end, knowing that we were about to eradicate all that was left of an old, ancient world.

We were killing the last of the mages.

In what seemed to be an endless amount of time, we were finally ready, the sun just rising over the horizon and stretching its long, warm fingers, prodding the darkness away gently.

Another messenger came up to me and I wondered only briefly what had happened to the other one, nodding.

I pursed my lips into a thin line and grasped the hilt of my sword, pulling it out of its sheath. I felt my eyes harden to stones and allowed my soul to slip away with the breeze.

It would come back.

A merciless killer I would once again descend into being. Shinta died away and Kenshin, Hitokiri Battousai, replaced him.

War cries rose around me, starting with one man who dared to call out as if defying the ancient world we were destroying and with others following him. Soon enough a hum of angry prayers being chanted rose above my head.

Magic angered the gods; it was foul and evil. It tainted anyone who dare touch it or get near it.

I said my own angry prayer full of hideous words that allowed the god of destruction to enter me, and I felt him replace the empty space where I had allowed my soul to leave.

My gaze was immediately tinted around the edges with an insane craze for death and I licked my lips hungrily in anticipation for the kill, grasping the hilt of my sword tightly.

Every piece of me that was still left cried for the loss of my soul but I ignored those pieces as we surged forward as one. We descended upon the unsuspecting town, destroying everything in our paths.

People were no longer people but merely flesh and bone that were meant to die.

It was in that swirl of death and destruction that I met her, and everything I had come to know and everything I had believed were stolen away from me.

And that included the heart I thought had died long before.

I was observing the wreckage of her house when I'd found her.

It was not easy, although her strong fighting presence alerted me that there was someone else in the house. Admittedly I had thought she was a man from how strong it was.

Nothing inside me had even panged at the sight of a man and a woman, blood-drenched and dead, huddled together. No emotions except the desire to kill had coursed through me until a fleeting feeling of surprise.

I had stepped through the door when the surprise chanced upon me; something long and blunt had come sailing through the air. Even in my expertise I had barely dodged it.

Within milliseconds I had my sword drawn and pressed against the assailant's neck, eyes hard and unrelenting.

Although I wouldn't have admitted it the next day, I felt a jolt of shock race through me when I saw two blue eyes glaring at me, angry tears streaming from them. And that a woman had nearly hit me. _A woman!_

Indignant, I was prepared to slice her head off.

But something stopped me.

And here was a fatal flaw that I would both regret and cherish in my heart forever.

(_Change in POV_ aka fanfiction sucks at showing symbols that indicate scene changes)

Before I had woken up, all had been well that morning. I had been dreaming pleasant dreams, unaware of what was about to happen.

And then I was woken up by screams of death and my father and mother rushed in, not saying a word but I figured out what had happened. Quickly they said a few streams of incantations – magic I had not yet developed – and I watched as the room was encased in a liquid that soon enough turned invisible.

They hugged me in turn, murmuring that they loved me, and then set my little brother Yahiko down next to me, telling me to take care of him.

Then both raced out of the room and it was the last time I would ever see them.

Both of us knew what would happen and I wrapped my arms around Yahiko's shaking form, knowing that he was crying though he was too proud to shed tears. We listened to the sounds of death outside.

It was then that I sensed a strong, horrible presence entering our house and I felt my own flair up to match it.

Clutching my brother tighter, I whispered soft words into his hair, telling him to be careful.

He looked up at me in incomprehension but nodded anyway.

"Wherever you're going, get back in one piece, Ugly."

So he jeered and stuck his tongue out, though without the usual fervor. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my bokken, glowering. "Watch what you say, Yahiko_-chan_!" I raised it over my head half-heartedly and brought it down on his head.

But it was then I knew I had to leave, ending our usual play. I kissed his forehead, his face becoming worried as I turned and walked away.

I ventured out of the careful magical wards my parents had created and my heart clenched.

I knew they were dead.

My breaths came in gasps as I sensed his presence drawing nearer, challenging mine. He knew I was there.

No, I thought, steeling my eyes and tightening my grip on my bokken, I must not be afraid. For mother and father, for Yahiko. I must not be afraid.

The air around me seemed to suffocate me, my lungs drawing in on themselves as I breathed quicker. My palms became sweaty as I knew that whoever it was should not be underestimated.

Creak.

My eyes widened and I slapped my left hand over my mouth to muffle a cry of surprise as I inched around a wall.

His presence drew nearer and I summoned on my courage, knowing that this man could have very well killed my parents. As he was almost upon me, a savage fury welled up within me and I moved with a speed I didn't know I possessed.

Eyes flaring as I recalled my training, I drew up my strength and focused. Barely any sound whispered as I swung my bokken through the air with a vengeful accuracy.

I had thought he couldn't dodge it, and what a fool I was.

Surprise must have shone on my face as he cleanly ducked under it.

It did not take long before I felt steel pressed against my neck and I glared defiantly, only later realizing I was crying, into the two most beautiful amber eyes I had ever seen, framed by blood-red hair.

He was the picture of a demon.

"Shocked, Master? You have asked for my powers and I have given them to you. It is too late to turn back now, Master. The visions will not stop coming until the forces above wish them to stop.

"_And I doubt that that will happen..._

"_I warned you that it would be a long story you will not enjoy. But you asked and now I have no choice, Master._

"_Even killing me will not stop them, so do not try, Master. I only do what you ask, Master, please do not be disappointed in me...That is all I ask..."_

A/N: How's that for a weird start to most likely what will be a strange fic? Anyway, yes, I know it's really confusing, but bear with me! ; And yes, I realize that this was not that good, but whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I apologize for the confusion with the last chapter's change in point of views. I have attempted different symbols to mark the change but not many seem to work. Once I find ones that do work, I'll repost the chapter. Once again, sorry.

-PLEASE DO NOT NAG ME- about this chapter taking a while, if those are your intentions. As I mentioned in the author's note of last chapter, this will be on the backburner due to school and original writing I am doing on fictionpress (under the penname Ranting Akumas).

Disclaimer (which I seemed to forgotten last chapter): Don't own Rurouni Kenshin or the song lyrics below. I do, however, own this plot.

_As I walk this land of broken dreams_

_I have visions of many things_

_Happiness is just an illusion_

_Filled with sadness and confusion_

_-Joan Osborne and the Funk Brothers (Jimmy Ruffin originally), _What Becomes of the Brokenhearted

**The Tale Not Worth Hearing**:

Chapter 2

Even among the sounds of panic and death that surrounded us, a silence thicker than anything I had known settled about me and the girl.

My hand twitched around the hilt of my sword and the muscles in my right arm tightened, but I could not bring myself to kill her. It would only need one movement, swifter than the blink of an eye, and then it would be done.

So why wasn't she finished?

She continued staring at me obstinately, her blue eyes flickering with anger. Tears gathered on the corner of her eyes and fell as more pushed at them, teetering on the edge of her lower lid. A droplet fled on its sinuous course down her cheek, trailing down the edge of her jaw-line for a brief moment before landing on my hand.

Suddenly, my hand began to tremble as the drop of liquid slid down its side.

_"Shinta..."_

_Two arms enclosed me, tucking me closer to warmth, blocking the smell of death and blood._

_"Shinta..."_

_Her voice was soft, desperate, heavy with the knowledge that the life that had amounted to nothing, the life that she had built for herself, would be destroyed._

_"Shinta, you must live...!"_

_Liquid fell steadily on my face, dripping down as she sobbed as quietly as she could, pulling me closer. Over her arm I could see a flash of light – metal moving through the half darkness, the blood red sunset splattering the normally blue sky – and liquid shooting outwards from a shadowed figure I had grown to cherish._

_A droplet dripped down from her cheek and landed on my hand as I twisted in horror, my eyes growing wide._

_That day Shinta died and Kenshin was born...but he too would die, eventually..._

I felt the breath stop in my throat and I stared at the tear that had stopped at where my thumb met my hand before my gaze flickered to the girl. For a moment, I saw the other slave who had held me and I faltered.

"Battousai!"

Stiffening, I did not turn to greet the new voice and I carefully covered my brief moment of vulnerability. I knocked the wooden sword – what a foolish, idiotic thing it was, I thought – out of her hand and kicked it across the room.

Disarmed as she was, I knew there would be little chance of her being able to harm me and I withdrew my sword, but still I did not move to face the newcomer.

"What a fitting scene for a monster such as you, manslayer!" the voice called, a man's and sounding young.

Untouched by life, I thought. Just like the girl, whose eyes shone with a fire that I had never known. The light in my eyes was cold and unwelcoming, I knew.

"Attacking this woman, no remorse as you hold your tainted blade to her skin!"

What a fool.

I was careful to make no eye contact with the girl, staring just above her head, seeing from the corner of my eye that she was frozen, unaware of what I was going to do and unsure of what to do herself.

"Turn and fight, coward who slays women, monster that destroys life!"

"Your babbling is beginning to annoy me," I interrupted, a strange feeling of annoyance welling up within me.

Was it from what he was rambling about or simply that he would not stop?

Raising my sword, I wheeled about to face the moron, blade raised and poised for the kill. I barely saw him – his eyes were an innocent brown, yet glared at me hatefully from behind his wispy black bangs. As I dashed forward, I knew that he had no chance, his eyes darting left and right. He could not even see me.

With no wish to let this annoying _idiot_ live any longer, I spun and brought my sword with me, using my momentum to make it more powerful.

My sword met flesh once again.

I jumped over his body and landed before it hit the ground with a deathly thud, his head rolling from his neck. Blood covered my blade and I, and I did not bother to wipe it from my face.

A choked gasp floated to my ears and I turned to face the girl. She was staring at the decapitated head, mouth slightly open and eyes wide, black strands of hair framing her terrified, pale face.

Snorting, I flicked the blood off my blade and it splattered over the walls of her house.

Horror crept into her eyes and for a second, just a brief second that clenched my heart and made me freeze, I truly felt like a monster, standing above the carnage that it had created, splattered with blood. My sword gleamed in the corner of my eye and I looked at my reflection briefly in it. My lip curled back in a sneer.

Why was the mere horror of this foolish girl, no older than 19, affecting me so?

A voice I had thought I'd long killed appeared within the confines of my head.

**_You killed him..._**

_**Mommy, I'm scared**_

_**He died**_

_**Dead...dead...**_

_**Dead. Dead.**_

_**Deaddeaddead...Mommyi'mscaredhavethebadmengoneawayyetsaveme**_

A growl leapt from my throat and I closed my eyes, knowing the hard, unrelenting amber and coldness was slipping.

**_He's dead...dead...How could youdeaddead...!_**

_**You...**_

Shinta.

I had thought...I had thought that Shinta had died...

**_You monster..._**

My head reeled and I fell to the ground, clapping my hands over my ears. With a clatter, the blade stained with blood – no, no, I had cleaned it, it was clean, _clean_ – clattered to the ground.

The voice did not lesson its assaults.

(_Change in POV_)

I lost track of how many minutes we stood, staring at each other. Confusion entered into my mind, floating in and overtaking it as if fog.

Why had he not killed me?

I could see the muscles on his forearm tense and I knew his hand was tightening, but he made no move to kill me. The metal of his blade pressed into my skin just slightly harder, but no blood was drawn.

In his eyes I saw anger and frustration – at himself?

It was then I realized that I had been crying, and that I still was. How weak of me, weeping pathetically in front of this man!

The tears slowed but one snuck its way out despite my efforts, trailing down my face and falling off. I could hear it drop onto the man's hand, so intense was the silence between us amidst the carnage. His eyes flickered to an ice blue, before they returned to gold.

Was I imagining things?

A cry came from the door broke our tensed silence, the name of "Battousai!" ringing through the air so desperate for noise.

Sudden fear overtook me.

_Battousai?_

They shared the same features the famous manslayer was rumored to have, yes, but he was so...so..._small_ and _thin! _He could easily have been mistaken for a girl if he had worn his gi tight around his body!

I froze, the murmur of the man's voice quiet among the raging of my mind, the young man's face and features blurred in the periphery of my eye. Once he had finished, I stared at this man – _Battousai_, I corrected myself – as I wondered what he would do, wary.

"Your babbling is beginning to annoy me," was his curt response as he interrupted whatever the man had been saying, his gaze fixed over my head.

A cold fear washed over me, dread tingling down to my toes and paralyzing me.

He turned around and raised his blade, my feet frozen in place. I could not move as if the fear slipped out through my toes and rooted me in the floor where I stood.

My knees were unable to support my weight, as if the dread that had passed through them had taken their strength with it. I fell to the ground as Battousai seemed to disappear from view, the young man with light, innocent brown eyes searching desperately for him.

Suddenly the red-haired slaughterer appeared, body twisting as gracefully as a cat's, and, in one swift movement of the wrist, he sliced the man's head off.

I felt my eyes widen in horror, drying their tears abruptly as a state of shock overcame me.

My hands reached up to my face, trembling violently and I saw his eye twitch very subtly, as the head rolled near his feet.

Horror erased all of my senses and I stared up at him, mouth gaping as I tried to form words which would not come out of my mouth. His eye twitched again and for a moment, he looked almost...ashamed...standing behind the disgusting corpse – how I wanted to vomit, the site of another's life ripped away hurt me so! The dark gi he wore was soaked with blood, his face sprinkled with it as well, matching his hair.

An insane thought enters my head, wondering if his hair had been dyed by others' blood, before I shook it away.

Carefully, I watched him, unsure of what he would do with me now that I had seen the abrupt death of a human who had done nothing – hadn't he deserved to live?

What gave Battousai the right to kill him?

Angry I might have been if I was not terrified, nearly planted in the hard, wooden floor my father had built-

_Father. Oh God, Father..._

He was dead. Never coming back. I could feel it, and sitting there, watching the strange icy blue creep in upon the amber, the enormity of the situation hit me.

My train of morbid, depressing thoughts – but real thoughts they were, I knew – was interrupted by the sound of metal striking against the wood. A sword falling to the ground?

I looked to Battousai and saw him kneeling in the pool of blood _he_ had created with his dirtied hands, the same dirty hands clapped over his ears.

And, huddled there on the floor, ears blocking out some sound he did not want to hear – what _was_ it? – he suddenly looked like a lost child.

What an incredible simile, I thought to myself. A man who slays others for who knows what reasons, killing everyone who got in his path, this man who appears to have no honor, looking like something as innocent as a child?

What madness!

Despite how mad it sounded, however, I knew it was true as he gave a scared whimpered and began muttering things.

Strangely enough, my legs unrooted themselves and I began crawling forward, aware of what I was doing and my mind screamed to stop, stop, but I continued moving forward.

My training hakama trailed through blood and became soaked through with it, my hands wading through the liquid form of another's life.

And as I drew nearer, my hand reached out – entirely of its own accord, I assure you, for I had no intention of even _nearing_ this dangerous man whom I barely knew – and soon enough my entire arm followed.

I embraced him, bloody and deathly.

"_No! No, make it stop...Master...Make it stop!_

"_I can't, I can't...take it..._

"_It's...disgusting, Master, but I can't stop it. I am unsure if anyone can..."_

A/N: ...Well. Odd. Yes, I know Kaoru doesn't seem like the sweet, I-love-everybody-no-matter-what Kaoru we see in the series, but keep in mind she had met Kenshin in the series _after_ he stopped killing. She just saw him kill someone in cold blood. XP I don't think I'd be too fond of him either.

Well, there is that thing I ended with. O.O that surprised even myself.

Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed (in case you couldn't tell, I will be telling more from Battousai/Kenshin's point of view mostly, as he will have the most character development)!


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